If god truly exists, and provides a way for all people to learn of him and worship him, why do people still require a bible to be a Christian, and a Quaran to be Muslim? Shouldn't true belief be internal, and not come from a book or the teachings of another person? Wouldn't god provide a way for you to know him without a book or a church?
2006-09-21 08:26:29 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Interesting question, and one I used to ponder in my forced religious studies classes in a catholic school (I didn't choose the school, it was the closest to my home), but then a few months ago, it occurred to me that I was pondering the wrong concept. While I was thinking about the necessity of holy readings, I realized that I should be asking why humans feel the need to differentiate into clusters known as religions.
The most closest reasonable proposition I have come up with to date is that individuals are often raised in their faiths from birth, and therefore they are only taught to know their higher being in that way. Very young children don't come with a built-in knowledge of a god, they need outside influences to shape their responses and understanding. From this stems their need to differentiate and thus use the tools at their disposal to assist their "knowing" of their higher being.
2006-09-21 08:38:26 · answer #1 · answered by fancybrowneyes 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He does. The book and the church are just convenient tools.
Several years ago, I was at a church and just as the service was about to start a young man, a student from another country, came in the door. He looked lost so I asked if I could help him with anything. He told me this story. He lived in an asian land and was a buddhist. One day in his meditation he called out in anguished desperation because he knew something was amiss in his soul even though he tried hard to be all that he was supposed to be. A voice spoke inside his head. The voice said he would go to school in America and there he would find a place called a church. They would give him a book and tell him about the Holy Spirit." He had no idea what a church was and less idea what a "Holy Spirit" was, but he was concerned because he was supposed to go to a local college. Someone had made contacts separate from him and he got a letter from a school in the US that he never heard of and had to look the place up on a map. Showing up at that place several months later, there was the open time on weekends and some of the students in his dorm said they were going to church. He opened a phone book and our church was the first one he noticed and the address was not far. We gave him a Bible, he learned about the Holy Spirit and soon became a Christian.
I had another friend, from a different asian country, who was also a Buddhist. He told of how he was praying in a tomb (spiritual exercise that emphasizes his realizing his mortality). He too heard a voice and saw a man's face. Days later he was walking down a busy street and saw a man with that face. Stopping him, he told "I was praying and saw your face, what does this mean?" The other man said, "I am a Christian and was praying that I could tell someone and here you stop me."
The Bible tells of others who heard from God, who followed God, who disobeyed God, who received help and forgiveness from God. The gathering of those who believe God or want to learn more of God, we call those places churches. Sometimes we find that God has made changes in our lives and sometimes that change is a feeling that these other people, initially strangers, are family and sharing something in common, a knowledge, a spark of understanding, about God.
God has promised us that He will let us in on everything, but for now, just trust Him. You can too.
2006-09-21 15:46:03 · answer #2 · answered by Rabbit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you mean by outside inspiration?
The reason for reading the Bible is so you will know the truth. That way...when someone is telling you a lie, you will know the truth. Besides, what does it hurt to know the Word of God?
If your "belief" is only internal, how are you to know you are right, you are your own standard? We don't measure up to God's standard, that's why He sent Jesus, so we would have grace to cover our sins.
I think you can find God without a book or Church, but to grow and nurture your relationship, it is good to read God's word and fellowship with like minded people (Church). Heb. 10:25 (check out that verse)...
Jesus' teachings were His Fathers teachings.
Jesus didn't come here (earth) to wipe out the law (Moses), He came here to fulfill the prophesy. We need His grace!
2006-09-21 15:39:35 · answer #3 · answered by Salvation is a gift, Eph 2:8-9 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Excellent questions...you would certainly think that an all-powerful and all-loving God would give his/her/it's message to all of it's creations equally so that there is no confusion.
The way it is now though, seems god is a prankster...he cut his message up and spread the pieces around like a jigsaw puzzle, then he lets us humans scramble around and try to put the pieces together in any way we see fit...and I wonder if it was part of god's plan for us all to murder each other to determine which human has the most pieces in the right places.
If this is God's plan...well God is an idiot, a bloodthirsty idiot.
Your on the right track, books and people are not needed to know what it is God requires of you...just simply look into your own heart and listen to your own conscience, God put all the answers for you in those two places the day you were born.
As long as Christians and Muslims preach hatred for each other and other religions....I suggest you see them for what they are...murderous and hate filled control freaks.
Amen...
2006-09-21 15:41:02 · answer #4 · answered by stephenjames001 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We need the Holy Bible for its teachings about God, the Father, and even Jesus Christ, the son, and even the Holy Spirit. About being outside in nature, that helps me to be able to visualize God and his works that are described in the Holy Bible. About internalizing God in our hearts as our belief system, we are still children and we still need bread and water to feed on and we also need to be able to feel that we are loved and wanted in this world. The Holy Bible is God's love letter to his children and nature allows us to be on the same level as God, the Father and the almighty.
2006-09-21 15:32:54 · answer #5 · answered by marcyfiorica 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the Creator does - organized religion portrays the One in a self-serving way, but you need neither book nor church to know the true Creator
2006-09-21 15:29:15 · answer #6 · answered by bregweidd 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You are becoming far too logical for this site...
2006-09-21 15:33:06 · answer #7 · answered by Blackacre 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋